This morning I was poking through ads on Craigslist and some classifieds and noticed a bunch of ads where folks would say "NO LOWBALLS!" or people who replied to my offers would say "ARE YOU NUTS?" or "WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM?"

Its negotiation. I make a low offer, you counter with a higher one. We go back and forth until we hit an agreeable number and I take the keys and go home. Its just business.

People who have no objection going to a new car dealer and squeezing out every last penny think that their own hunks of crap are their children. Well, you don't sell your children on Craigslist.

LOL They even said "FU".....tell them you'll take it for 900 and when you meet them you can ask them about the "fu"

Jesda

10-23-06, 03:17 PM

Whats funny is, the ad was stale, and in his latest post he was down to $800 for an asking price. We corresponded for a while and I learned that there was an engine tick, rust, severe scuffing on the door, and broken AC. $600 was its value on a good day.

DBA-One

10-23-06, 03:45 PM

Ah, I hate selling cars. A few years ago I sold my mint '93 Accord coupe. It needed nothing and had nice wheels, etc on it. I got some kook who's bitch didn't want the car because the wheels were not hubcaps. Then I got some guy who wanted to put a deposit on it while he shopped elsewhere. I got offers for just plain stupid trades or amounts. Some of the lowballers were just jokes. I changed the ad to read no time wasters or kids without money.

My wife asked me if I thought that would offend potential buyers. I said **** them. Those are the people I don't want coming around.

I~LUV~Caddys8792

10-23-06, 06:31 PM

I hated selling my Roadmaster. People, especially teens are goofy about cars, they have to have exactly what they want. I hated the thought of that car going to somebody who was gonna put 22's on it or some kid who wouldn't respect it and take care of it. I wanted somebody old to use it to drive to church and the grocery store in.

I got really lucky, a 74 year old presbyterian minister bought it. Said he wanted a big ol' Buick, said he had no use for the LT1 because he wasn't much of a hot rodder anymore. God I hope that car held up for him and made him as happy as it did me.

CVP33

10-23-06, 06:56 PM

I'd like to offer $400 cash for your Saab.

Thanks!

$50 for your immortal soul. And -$138 for your Cardinal's hat. The way I see it, you owe me $88 dollars. I'm sorry, I should've PM'd this.

Jesda, you should sign up the owner of that '93 STS for tons of spam email for male enhancement and stuff of that sort. Just like Dopestar did to that man wiht the '79!

Jesda

10-24-06, 01:11 AM

LOL, the STS owner was at least friendly on the phone.

96Fleetwood

10-24-06, 07:58 AM

The offers you gave were probably ridiculous and for your budget, not the sellers.. the seller has every right to refuse them in any way they want. Now that is the power of negotiation, the right to say "hell no" and wait for someone to give you the asking price :thumbsup:

Jesda

10-24-06, 08:57 AM

The offers you gave were probably ridiculous and for your budget, not the sellers.. the seller has every right to refuse them in any way they want. Now that is the power of negotiation, the right to say "hell no" and wait for someone to give you the asking price :thumbsup:

The ad said "tell me what you think its worth"

Well, heck, I sure did! Then he gets retarded when I do.

I~LUV~Caddys8792

10-24-06, 09:20 AM

Going too low will insult the man. You're almost too good of a negotiator Jesda.

Jesda

10-24-06, 09:45 AM

I should get a job dealing with hostages. It would go like this:

Perp: "I want 10 million dollars, a helicopter, and a pizza or I'm going to kill everyone in the bank!"

Jesda: "How about 35 dollars in rolls of quarters so it feels like a lot more, and you only shoot the ugly chicks and the Democrats. We'll also throw in a slightly used Kia Rio with a tape deck and power windows. Half-eaten bag of Cheetos instead of pizza. Do we have a deal?"

*KABOOM*

Everyone dies. Jesda goes home without having to spend 10 million dollars. In terms of finance, its a smashing victory.

90Brougham350

10-24-06, 10:39 AM

Jesda, you should be an accountant for GM!

P-Funk

10-24-06, 10:50 AM

I should get a job dealing with hostages. It would go like this:

Perp: "I want 10 million dollars, a helicopter, and a pizza or I'm going to kill everyone in the bank!"

Jesda: "How about 35 dollars in rolls of quarters so it feels like a lot more, and you only shoot the ugly chicks and the Democrats. We'll also throw in a slightly used Kia Rio with a tape deck and power windows. Half-eaten bag of Cheetos instead of pizza. Do we have a deal?"

*KABOOM*

Everyone dies. Jesda goes home without having to spend 10 million dollars. In terms of finance, its a smashing victory.

:histeric:

That was great.

dp102288

10-24-06, 12:26 PM

I like negoting but I never go too low. Once the seller is offended, you have little chance in getting a good price.

I put a Craigslist ad in to sell our SLS, and I asked $7000. KBB value for Fair condition is $8100, and ours is way better than fair, probably in "good" condition which is $8500.

Some guy e-mails me..."I will give you $5000 cash tomorrow". I was pissed and told him that. He replies back with some curse words. Same thing with a few other people.

Maybe I am in the wrong, but I didn't say e-mail any offers, I just said $7000. Go figure.

Car is still for sale, but we would keep it rather than give it away...

Rasta

10-24-06, 02:10 PM

see the problem is that when people sell thier own car they they don't sell the car they sell part of thier family thier good times and thier memories and the buyer don't care "it's been the best car i've ever had" stuff like that when someone makes an offer that is an offer don't take it personaly

Rasta

10-24-06, 02:11 PM

everyone wants a better deal than the next guy

Destroyer

10-24-06, 02:31 PM

I should get a job dealing with hostages. It would go like this:

Perp: "I want 10 million dollars, a helicopter, and a pizza or I'm going to kill everyone in the bank!"

Jesda: "How about 35 dollars in rolls of quarters so it feels like a lot more, and you only shoot the ugly chicks and the Democrats. We'll also throw in a slightly used Kia Rio with a tape deck and power windows. Half-eaten bag of Cheetos instead of pizza. Do we have a deal?"

*KABOOM*

Everyone dies. Jesda goes home without having to spend 10 million dollars. In terms of finance, its a smashing victory.You would be dealing with a lot of dead hostages which incidentally coincides with your negotiating skills. First off, how do you make an offer without even seeing the car?. You are much less likely to get turned down in person than through an email. I have bought and sold about 150 cars roughly. I had people offer crazy lowball offers but they were "cash". This makes me laugh cause wtf else do they think I'm gonna take?. Do they think I was gonna finance them or do an f'ing layaway?. I've been offered payments and trades and what not in the past to which I have always declined. I've had parents of kids that were interested in my cars personally come over after I shot the kid down and tell me what a great kid they have and he really likes my car and so forth and to basically let the kid have it cheap, c'mon. As for your remark about Democrats..............I'll refrain from what I was gonna say.:eek:

DBA-One

10-24-06, 02:35 PM

I don't see how sellers are always in the wrong. I think it is broke as bitch buyers who come around with no money. Some people who lowball so much have never driven anything but a car with 600k miles that they bought for 500 bucks so they think that is what everything cost. It isn't always so much the lowball offer as much as it is the idiot who is making the offer. The way they justify things is plain stupid. They act like because they called or came and looked at the car it should be free.

For all you ass kissing in this thread, I hope Jesda comes to look at your car!

Wiseguy2

10-24-06, 06:20 PM

im very flexable on the price but im not a dumby

Priceless!

Destroyer

10-24-06, 06:30 PM

I don't see how sellers are always in the wrong. I think it is broke as bitch buyers who come around with no money. Some people who lowball so much have never driven anything but a car with 600k miles that they bought for 500 bucks so they think that is what everything cost. It isn't always so much the lowball offer as much as it is the idiot who is making the offer. The way they justify things is plain stupid. They act like because they called or came and looked at the car it should be free.

For all you ass kissing in this thread, I hope Jesda comes to look at your car!
Exactly right. Just a big waste of time for both but more importantly the seller if the buyer has no intention of giving him anywhere close to the asking price.

Jesda

10-24-06, 10:43 PM

He ASKED for folks to tell him what it was worth. He continued to relist and reduce his asking price. After three weeks of emails talking about its flaws and issues, I finally made him an offer.

You brag when you get a great deal from some bonehead, but suddenly its a moral issue when its your own car? Hypocrisy.

Wiseguy2

10-25-06, 03:48 AM

The guy's a putz.

I have this old 1986 BMW 325 Automatic lying around that I can't get rid of. It's on CL NJ right now for $500/bo. Got a $200 offer tonight, told him, truthfully,that I could do better than that at the crusher. Told him get into the $300s and haul/drive/push/tow/I could care less/etc it away.

Not too tough.

Jesda

10-25-06, 04:53 AM

Who gives $200 to crush a car? Are environmental laws stricter in NJ, raising the incentive to junk cars for scrap? I've never, in my life, heard of anything over $50.

For $200, I would round up all the dead cars I could find and make a living of it.

There's probably nothing more honest in a transaction than making an offer. I'm amused by Americans who equate straightforward bidding to stealing from pensions and kicking babies.

Destroyer

10-25-06, 12:39 PM

He ASKED for folks to tell him what it was worth. He continued to relist and reduce his asking price. After three weeks of emails talking about its flaws and issues, I finally made him an offer.

You brag when you get a great deal from some bonehead, but suddenly its a moral issue when its your own car? Hypocrisy.You didnt really tell him what it was worth you made a low ball offer without even seeing or driving it. If the guy says "yes Jesda come and get it", what this means is that you still may not buy the car but the new price you offered is going to be the starting price now and you will try to negotiate from there once you get there to actually see it. A seller would have to be really stupid to agree to that but there are stupid sellers out there to your defense. On the other hand if you did not even discuss the price beforehand and you went to see the car and found lots of stuff wrong with the car that was previously undisclosed to you and say "look man, this car needs a lot more work than I thought" and THEN make a low ball offer then he would probably counter it a bit higher and you can close the deal. As a seller I would be open to negotiation only once I was face to face with the buyer.

Jesda

10-25-06, 01:08 PM

Nonsense. We discussed at length what was wrong with the car for nearly a month. The result was that it was worth FAR less than what he was asking, and he continued to ask me to make him an offer by e-mail.

"CHEKIN IN. U MAKIN AN OFFER?"

I made him an offer alright. Half his $800 asking price for a car worth $600 on a good day. He got inexplicably offended, probably because he thought everyone operated on his low-life level, assuming I would "fight" for the car after being told "fu".

You see, this is how the marketplace works for durable goods in a capitalist society:
When a car is posted for sale, the seller is opening up to bids. Those bids may be rejected or accepted. It is entirely within the seller's right to reject rudely, even he's an idiot, and stupidly assumes that the buyer can only afford the amount of his bid.

In reality, most used car buyers will bid for a price significantly lower than what they can actually afford, and it is the seller's job to make a counter-offer. That counter-offer may be nowhere near the bid price, but it doesn't mean the bidder won't pay more. The bidder is already interested by making a bid.

You, as a seller, would be foolish to turn down a 'lowball,' because nothing about a bid is final. Negotiation isn't just "I'LL PAY THIS AND THATS THE END OF DISCUSSION!" unless you're proxy bidding your highest offer on ebay. Its a series of back and forth offers, refusals, and explanations that eventually lead to an agreement.

When you post your car for sale, IT IS NOT YOUR BABY. It is a competing offer in the marketplace, and absolutely nothing more.

DaveSmed

10-25-06, 03:54 PM

The guy's a putz.

I have this old 1986 BMW 325 Automatic lying around that I can't get rid of. It's on CL NJ right now for $500/bo. Got a $200 offer tonight, told him, truthfully,that I could do better than that at the crusher. Told him get into the $300s and haul/drive/push/tow/I could care less/etc it away.

Not too tough.

2.7 ETA?

Patrick7997

10-25-06, 04:50 PM

I tend to agree with Jesda, although Jesda, I'm not sure why you're so upset about it.... the world is full of used cars... keep looking, bro...

The seller, IMHO, was utterly wrong to drop the "fu" in his reply... that's absurd. He's asking for offers. He gets an offer. He can now, accept the offer, or reject the offer. If he wants to counter-offer, feel free.

It's just business. And one thing I've learned is, you never know.

I got a low offer on one of my bikes, years ago... super low. I calmly told the prospective buyer that for that price, I'd park it in the garage and give it to my nephew next year....

Dude leaves. Calls me a week later, do I still have the Motorcycle?? Yeah... He comes out. Now he makes a good offer... I gave him a slightly higher number, and told him to go and bring that back in cash, and we have a deal.... well, he doesn't have to go anywhere, he gets it out and hands it over... so, what started as a waste of time, it turned out we did bizness... you never know...

People get so upset, buyers and sellers.... there's no need to get upset. It's just a business deal....

The part that drives me nuts is the people (half of them) who stand you up on the appointment.... spend your life hanging around the house waiting for people who never show.... if you're not coming, why'd you say you were coming???

This is probably too "old school" for the modern era, but I don't negotiate over the phone, or thru e-mails... when you get there, and you have cash in your hands, that's when the negotiations start....

And as a buyer, I like to do that.... bring the cash. If you think you're close to the deal, get the cash out... the average human brain is natrually drawn to the sight of the 12 g's in hundreds.... and it's difficult to say no to that, even if you were "firm" at 13..... I wish I had videotapes of some of these sellers I've encountered... watching them turn to jelly at the sight of the money is quite amusing.... Obviously, it doesn't work on everyone.... but when it works, it works really good....

Destroyer

10-25-06, 06:17 PM

I tend to agree with Jesda, although Jesda, I'm not sure why you're so upset about it.... the world is full of used cars... keep looking, bro...

The seller, IMHO, was utterly wrong to drop the "fu" in his reply... that's absurd. He's asking for offers. He gets an offer. He can now, accept the offer, or reject the offer. If he wants to counter-offer, feel free.

It's just business. And one thing I've learned is, you never know.

I got a low offer on one of my bikes, years ago... super low. I calmly told the prospective buyer that for that price, I'd park it in the garage and give it to my nephew next year....

Dude leaves. Calls me a week later, do I still have the Motorcycle?? Yeah... He comes out. Now he makes a good offer... I gave him a slightly higher number, and told him to go and bring that back in cash, and we have a deal.... well, he doesn't have to go anywhere, he gets it out and hands it over... so, what started as a waste of time, it turned out we did bizness... you never know...

People get so upset, buyers and sellers.... there's no need to get upset. It's just a business deal....

The part that drives me nuts is the people (half of them) who stand you up on the appointment.... spend your life hanging around the house waiting for people who never show.... if you're not coming, why'd you say you were coming???

This is probably too "old school" for the modern era, but I don't negotiate over the phone, or thru e-mails... when you get there, and you have cash in your hands, that's when the negotiations start....

And as a buyer, I like to do that.... bring the cash. If you think you're close to the deal, get the cash out... the average human brain is natrually drawn to the sight of the 12 g's in hundreds.... and it's difficult to say no to that, even if you were "firm" at 13..... I wish I had videotapes of some of these sellers I've encountered... watching them turn to jelly at the sight of the money is quite amusing.... Obviously, it doesn't work on everyone.... but when it works, it works really good....I dont get upset at the low ball offers, I get upset at the waste of time. Showing a vechicle could turn out to be an all day affair. If its a serious buyer its fine, he knows the price I'm asking and he's willing to pay something close. If its a guy thats coming to offer me half what I'm selling for intentionally I get pissed.

Jesda

10-25-06, 09:29 PM

You dont have to offer a lowball offer a test-drive and show, but there's no reason to reply with "fu". I like to ask questions before making an offer, so I know what the car is worth and what the seller didn't say in the ad. Obvious way of making the seller realize that their asking price is high, by having them point out the flaws for you.

You underestimate how many average people hate selling cars and would rather just let the car go than wait for a higher offer. Its a good time to me. I enjoy the competition, the chase, the acquisition, and the profit if I decide to sell it later on.

Wiseguy2

10-27-06, 01:22 AM

2.7 ETA?

Yep! 325s are all Etas.. The one you ideally want is an '88, aka "Super eta".. those are easy to turn into 327is :)

And Jesda.. scrap prices are high right now, I get, for a TOTALLY stripped out E36 shell, about $60. A driving car with aluminum wheels and big "Diving Board" 80s Bumpers? Closer to $300. About $175 for the car, and about $75 for the wheels, $40 for the bumpers, etc..